How to prepare a package for USPS Registered Mail
Prepare Your Package As Usual
Everything is the same but you have the extra step of BROWN TAPE (see below). Follow all the steps and procedures you would normally take to prepare a package so it arrives
undamaged. This means lots of bubble wrap and peanuts. This also means using heavy double-walled boxes (available at Lowes (they have the best), U-Haul (these are good too) and Walmart. Be sure to ask for DOUBLE WALL.
DOUBLE WALL means there are TWO layers of cardboard instead of one.
If you haven't already, read our SAFE SHIPPING GUIDE (click here)
Priority Mail
Registered Mail is just an ADDED service to your standard Priority Mail or First Class. We recommend using Priority Mail as the base service, and then tell the postal clerk that you want to add Registered Mail Service.
Insurance
Insure the package for the amount of our quote. If you are sending in for an appraisal and subsequent offer, insure for an amount you feel will cover your loss in case of damage or loss. NOTE: Registered Mail packages NEVER get lost.
Attach the shipping label
You can type or hand-print a shipping label, whatever works for you.
OUR ADDRESS:
2nd Markets
7280 Cochran Road
Lyles, TN 37098
THE CRITICAL BROWN TAPE
The final step for registered mail is to seal every nook and cranny and seam with brown paper tape. Sadly, brown paper tape is not easy to find. We use a self adhesive brown paper tape
we buy on Amazon here: Caremail Self-Adhesive Paper Tape, 1.88 Inches x 40 Yards, Single Roll (1119059) CLICK HERE
The post office wants every seam, crack, crevice, nook, and cranny to be covered with this brown tape. This is how they guarantee the package has been untampered with. It's an simple extra step, but some clerks are picky.
If your clerk is a jerk, and claims that you used the WRONG KIND of paper tape, and that it has to have STRING in it, ask to speak to his supervisor. We have shipped hundreds of packages with this brown paper tape, and nowhere in the
USPS guidelines book does it state the brown paper tape has to have strings in it. Some clerks are lazy and don't want to deal with registered mail, so they throw up roadblocks.
If you get any hassle whatsoever, ask for a supervisor.
